First things first. Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival is over, and it was a rip-roaring success. As happened in Grand Bahama, in Nassau thousands and thousands of people thronged the festival site, hungry for the new experience, and for the first time ever The Bahamas entered the twenty-first century world of festivals, productions and events. For the first time […]
Read more "Junkanoo, Carnival, and Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival"People have been asking, as they do, what makes it cost so much to put on a theatre festival. It’s a question we come up against a lot, whether it’s asked in a straightforward fashion or whether it’s behind some other question or assumption, such as the one I was asked outright last year: “Why […]
Read more "What it costs to make theatre in Nassau, Bahamas"If the Day of Absence is really about tourist’s pleasure, if this is what we really care about, let us at least be honest about it. I sincerely believe that we should deal with our own cultural hunger before we worry about how to provide better shows for our visitors. Confusing the two will eventually […]
Read more "Day of Absence 2010: Third Response – Investment"… are all Bahamian artists worthy of respect? The simple answer is no. Why should anyone respect bad poetry, bad writing, bad painting or poorly organized festivals? … Allow me to suggest that there are perhaps two reasons why Bahamians, on the whole, have not received much in the way of international (or local) acclaim […]
Read more "Day of Absence 2010: Second Response – Quality"The critique(s) offered by Ward Minnis about the Day of Absence concept on his blog, Mental Slavery, and on Bahama Pundit, are both comprehensive and impressive. And he’s right, in several places. Particularly when he writes Her Day of Absence clouds over and conflates many different and unrelated ideas while advancing an awkward historical agenda […]
Read more "Day of Absence 2010: First Response – Clarity"Well, it’s that time again. What time? you may ask. Because it’s not like this is a regular occurrence, a public holiday so to speak, or anything grand or exciting. But the new year is a-coming in, and February is nearing, and it’s time for me to observe the Day of Absence once again. Now […]
Read more "Day of Absence 2010: Introduction"I’ve already blogged about why I think that our government’s cancellation of CARIFESTA was a bad idea. (I think the word I used was “terrible”). Now the rumours I am hearing about the future of Bahamian culture and its development are as bad or worse. Rather than serious investment in the development of our cultural […]
Read more "On the need for cultural capital – Richard Florida on Montreal’s Creative Class"